Mark Dinning

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark Dinning (August 17, 1933 - March 22, 1986) was an American singer.

Dinning was born near Drury, Oklahoma but grew up on a farm outside of Nashville, Tennessee. From a musical family, three of his sisters formed The Dinning Sisters singing group that had a Top Ten hit in the late 1940s. Dinning pursued a career in country music and in 1957, record producer Wesley Rose got him a record contract. His recording efforts met with limited success until 1960, when he recorded a 45rpm single called "Teen Angel" that was written by his sister Jean and her husband Red Surrey. The lyrics told of the death of a teenage love that radio stations in the United Kingdom deemed too morbid to be aired, but it went to No.1 on the Billboard Charts in the United States.

Although Dinning never duplicated the success of "Teen Angel", he had three minor hit records in the ensuing few years and continued to perform in the music industry until his unexpected death at the age of fifty-two from a heart attack in Jefferson City, Missouri.